The present invention relates to spinal implants, and in particular to a graftless spinal implant that employs a bioactive coating such as hydroxyapatite to promote fixation of the implant to adjacent bony surfaces.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,241,769 entitled xe2x80x9cImplant for Spinal Fusionxe2x80x9d and U.S. Pat. No. 6,096,080 entitled xe2x80x9cApparatus for Spinal Fusion Using Implanted Devicesxe2x80x9d disclose spinal replacement devices. Both patents discuss in detail the problems associated with the prior art devices.
The devices disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,241,769 and 6,096,080, each hereby incorporated by reference, utilize a central graft space for promoting the long-term fixation onto adjacent bony surfaces. The device can be fabricated from human bone allograft material of bone substitute material such as coral or calcium phosphate. A problem with the devices disclosed in these patents is that they require a bone graft, and the failure rate of these types of devices is fairly high. In addition, there is an unacceptably high rate of morbidity (e.g., 30%).
Therefore, there is a need for a spinal implant device that does not utilize a bone graft in an attempt to facilitate fixation of the implant device to adjacent vertebral bony surfaces, and thereby stabilize the spinal motion segment.
Briefly, according to the present invention, an implantable spinal fusion device includes an exterior bioactive coating.
In one embodiment, a graftless spinal implant for mechanically attaching two adjacent vertebrae includes a body having first and second opposite surfaces. The first and second surfaces include at least one protruding member for securing the body to adjacent vertebrae, wherein the exterior surfaces of the body and the first and second protruding members include a bioactive coating.
The bioactive coating can be selected from coatings such as for example, hydroxyapatite, bioglass, biocomposites, hydroxypatite tricalcium phosphate, bone morphogenic protein, or other bone producing proteins.
The exterior bioactive coating facilitates the ongrowth/ingrowth of vertebral bone between the implantable spinal fusion device and adjacent vertebrae. Advantageously, this allows the device to avoid the use of a bone graft and/or bone growth agents.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in light of the following detailed description of preferred embodiments thereof, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.